Young American pianist Katherine Benson is quickly emerging as an important artistic figure of her generation through her “stunning” (ArtsKnoxville) performances and passion for arts leadership. A native of Jonesborough, TN, Katherine is in demand as a soloist, chamber musician, adjudicator, and teacher, and has performed across the USA and abroad in Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, and New Zealand. Recent solo performances include the Evelyn Miller Young Pianist Series, Little Carnegie of the South Young Artist Series, and soloist in Clara Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A Minor with the Spectrum Orchestra of Bloomfield Hills, MI.

Katherine has additionally garnered numerous triumphs in over a dozen international and national piano competitions, having won top prizes in the Seattle, Kerikeri, Walled City Music, Teresa Carreño, and Thousand Islands International Piano Competitions, as well as the grand prize of the 2020 George R. Johnson Concerto Competition.

An avid chamber musician, Katherine is the Artistic Director and pianist for The Paramount Chamber Players (TPCP), one of the premier chamber music ensembles of the Appalachian Region and in its nineteenth concert season. In demand as a masterclass clinician and adjudicator, she recently presented masterclasses for the Blount County Keyboard Teachers Association, the Evelyn Miller Young Artist Series, and the Knoxville International Piano Festival, working with a diversity of age groups from elementary students up to collegiate artists. Katherine has also served on the jury for multiple competitions, including the Knoxville Symphony Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition, the Tennessee Music Teachers Association Senior Piano Competition, and the Alabama Music Teachers Association Senior Piano Competition.

Currently a Doctoral Candidate in Piano Performance at the University of Michigan, Katherine holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music, Northwestern University, and an Artist Certificate from the University of Tennessee Knoxville. Katherine serves on the faculty of the University of Tennessee Knoxville College of Music, where she maintains a full studio of piano students and teaches courses in piano pedagogy, piano literature, and chamber music.

The playing of pianist Ryan Fogg has been described as “brilliant, with a high level of polish, impressive technical command, musical understanding and sensitivity.” He has presented solo recitals in California, Michigan, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Virginia, Ohio, and Tennessee. In addition, he is an avid chamber musician, collaborative pianist, and concerto soloist. His orchestral debut occurred while performing Stravinsky's Concerto for Piano and Winds with the Knoxville Wind Symphony at the historic Tennessee Theatre. In 2011, he released a CD recording through Albany Records entitled “The Fogg Project,” featuring new works by American composers. A subsequent review of the recording by Fanfare Magazine described Fogg as “an excellent pianist, drawing an impressive range of sounds out of his instrument.”

Originally from Houston, Texas, Dr. Fogg holds degrees in piano performance from The University of Texas at Austin, The University of Houston, and East Texas Baptist University. He currently holds the position of Professor of Music and Director of Keyboard Studies at Carson-Newman University, where he teaches a wide range of courses, including applied piano, piano literature, piano ensemble, ear training, and form & analysis. A dedicated teacher, he has been recognized by Carson-Newman with the Teaching Excellence and Leadership Award and twice with the Faculty Creativity Award.

A native of Taiwan, pianist Chih-Long Hu’s performance career was launched after receiving honors including the Taipei National Concert Hall Arising Star, the Chi-Mei Artist Award, and prizes from the Mauro Monopoli International Piano Competition in Italy, the Concurs International De Piano D'Escaldes-Engordany in Andorra, the Takamatsu International Piano Competition in Japan, and San Jose International Piano Competition in California.

An active performer, Hu performs extensively appearing as a concerto soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. His recent performance highlights include concerto performances of Rachmaninov’s Paganini Rhapsody, Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, solo and chamber recitals in China, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Ireland, France, Canada, and throughout the U.S. Hu’s performances have been broadcast in "Performance Today" through NPR stations across the U.S. His CD albums "Formosa Caprices", “Complete Rachmaninov Etudes-Tableaux”, and “Goldberg Variations” have received critical acclaims.

Recipient of the UT Chancellor’s Excellence in Teaching Award and named “Teacher of the Year” by Tennessee Music Teachers Association, Knoxville Music Teachers Associations, and Appalachian Music Teachers Association, Hu is committed and passionate in teaching. He strives to cultivate and inspire curiosity in meaningful expressions and to help his students discover their individuality through the music.

Hu holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts in piano performance from the University of Michigan, a Master's degree from Taipei National University of the Arts, and a Bachelor's degree in civil engineering from National Taiwan University. Hu is currently the Sandra G. Powell Endowed Professor of Piano and the coordinator of Keyboard Studies at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Born in Korea, Eunsuk Jung is a pianist, collaborative artist, and pedagogue. She holds a Bachelor of Music in piano performance from Korea and a Master of Music and Doctoral of Musical Arts degrees in piano performance from West Virginia University, where she also studied organ and harpsichord. Eunsuk made her orchestra debut in 1991 with Seoul Symphony Orchestra in Korea. Since then, she has performed solo recitals throughout Korea and the United States. She has also performed as a collaborative artist and continuously works with professional instrumentalists with various types of formation on recitals. Recently, she had recitals with UT woodwind faculty members, Knoxville Symphony String Quartet and world-renowned tuba and euphonium players at the ITEC (International Tuba/Euphonium Conference) in Knoxville, 2016. As a pedagogue, Eunsuk studied university level class piano curricula in the United States and Korea as her doctoral research project and utilized her study in her courses. Currently, she is on the music faculty of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville as Lecturer of Piano and Coordinator of Class Piano. In addition, Eunsuk serves as Vice President of Knoxville Music Teachers Association and advisor of MTNA Collegiate Chapter at the University of Tennessee.

The piano music of Sergei Rachmaninoff is written in an eclectic individual style showing influences from Chopin, Liszt, Schumann, Tchaikovsky, and Brahms and is flavored with Russian nationalism. Within his works, there is an emphasis on lyrical themes and rich harmonies in the traditional tonal system. His music is very technically demanding for the pianist and is permeated with a melancholy character.

Valse and Romance date from 1890 and 1891 respectively, and were composed for three sisters who were Rachmaninoff’s cousins: Natalya, Lyudmila, and Vera Skalon. In both pieces, glimpses of Rachmaninoff’s mature style can be heard in the chromatic melodies and harmonies, and use of colorful registers of the piano. Valse is in the lighter style of a salon piece, and Rachmaninoff uses melodic material in all three parts. Romance, as the title suggests, is a more dramatic work. Rachmaninoff would later use the opening material of this work in the second movement of his Piano Concerto No. 2.

Rachmaninoff composed Suite No. 1 in 1893 and dedicated it to Tchaikovsky, who was a great admirer of Rachmaninoff. It was first performed in Moscow on November 30, 1893 by Rachmaninoff and Pavel Pabst, a professor at the Moscow Conservatory. In the first edition, each movement is prefaced by a few lines of poetry (these are included below).

The lyrical and florid first movement is a barcarolle (boat song). Colorful arabesques and arpeggios spin around the themes, reflecting the lapping waves described in the accompanying poem by Mikhail Lermontov:

A cold evening wave
Is barely rustling under the oars of a gondola...
It’s day again, and again the guitar is singing!
Afar is heard the sound of the barcarolle:
“The gondola’s on the water gliding
And time on wings of love is flying;
The water will again regain its level,
But the passion will never be resurrected!”

The second movement is related to the subject material of the first with a continuing theme of love and colorful, passionate writing. The entire range of the keyboard is explored with a constant dialogue between the parts. The peaceful mood shifts between major and minor harmonies, and the textures are filled extensively with shimmering trills, arpeggios, and tremolos. The poem that precedes the movement is by Lord Byron:

It is the hour when from the boughs
The nightingale’s high note is heard;
It is the hour when lover’s vows
Seem sweet in every whispered word;
And gentle winds, and waters near,
Make music to the lonely ear.

The final two movements of the suite both feature the sound of bells. The third movement was inspired by the bells of St. Sofia’s Cathedral in Novgorod, which Rachmaninoff visited with his grandmother when he was young. In this movement, Rachmaninoff associates the sound of the bells with sadness. The poem that precedes this movement is by Fyodor Tyutchev:

Human tears, oh human tears!
Flowing in early and late season—
Flowing unknown, flowing unseen,
Inexhaustible, as they may seem,
Flowing like rivers from the sky
On a bleak autumn night.

The celebratory final movement imitates the sound of Orthodox Church bells on Easter Sunday as well as fragments of Russian liturgical chant. The poem that precedes this movement is by Aleksey Khomyakov:

And mighty chiming flew across the earth,
And the ringing air began to tremble,
The singing silver thunders
Proclaiming the news of holy celebrations.

Rachmaninoff composed and published the well-known Vocalise in 1915 as the last of his 14 Songs of Op. 34. Written for high voice (soprano or tenor) with piano accompaniment, it contains no words, but is sung using only one vowel of the singer's choosing. It is performed in various instrumental arrangements more frequently than in the original vocal version. The version for one piano, four hands heard tonight was arranged by Teo Leonov.

Written between 1900 and 1901, Suite No. 2 premiered on November 24, 1901, with the composer and Alexander Siloti performing. Siloti was a former piano student of Liszt and a well-regarded conductor. As in Suite No. 1, Suite No. 2 is further proof of Rachmaninoff’s virtuosity as a pianist. Like much of his keyboard music, this suite is filled with large chords and is orchestral in nature.

The first movement of this suite serves as an introduction. This rhythmic movement in C major is a quick march with grandiose chords and rich harmonies. It follows an ABA form with a coda. The dazzling second movement in G major is a virtuoso essay in controlled momentum. Several themes appear and reappear throughout the waltz. Some of the themes use cross rhythms while others feature continuous eighth notes or long lyrical lines. Throughout the movement, one piano carries thematic material while the other piano supports the melody by weaving the accompaniment around it. It follows an ABAB form with a coda.

The nocturne-like Romance in A-flat major functions as the slow movement of the suite. The haunting melodic lines and modulations to distant keys emphasize the emotional qualities of such Romantic-style writing. Composed around the same time as the Piano Concerto No. 2, this romance shares these characteristics with the first and third movements of the concerto. Throughout the movement, the melodies are richly decorated and lead to massive symphonic climaxes.

A tarantella is a lively Italian dance in 68 meter that originated in southern Italy. According to legend, it is named after the tarantula spider whose poisonous bite the dance was supposed to cure. This last movement of the suite is an agitated and explosive finale in C minor. The principal theme is from a collection of Italian folk songs. The theme twists and turns throughout the movement, interweaving with other playful motives and finally leading to a whirlwind conclusion.